1828 Signed Irish Free Frank. Earl of Clancarty Ballinasloe. Napoleonic Diplomat Memorabilia.

Detailed Description

This is a remarkable piece of 19th-century Irish postal history and political memorabilia.

The item features a complete, hand-addressed postal free frank wrapper panel signed boldly in the lower-left corner by the 2nd Earl of Clancarty ("Clancarty").

The letter was posted from the family's regional seat in Ballinasloe, Ireland on March 4th or 5th, 1828.

It features a crisp, red "FREE / 5 MR 5 / 1828" crown postal stamp, indicating its privilege under the parliamentary free franking system.

It is addressed to the famous Rev. Dr. Henry Philpotts (later the contentious Bishop of Exeter), sent care of the historic Athenaeum Club at Waterloo Place in London.

Beautifully preserved on a presentation backing sheet featuring vintage handwritten ink notes mapping out Lord Clancarty's hereditary titles.

Historical Significance & Relationship (1828)

The relationship between Lord Clancarty and Dr. Henry Philpotts at the time of this correspondence is what makes this artifact highly desirable to political historians.

The Anti-Catholic Emancipation Alliance: In early 1828, the defining, fiercest political battle in the British Empire was Catholic Emancipation (allowing Roman Catholics to sit in Parliament).

Both Clancarty and Philpotts were among the most prominent, ultra-conservative "Tory" defenders of the Protestant Constitution.

The Master Pamphleteer & The Imperial Statesman: Dr. Philpotts was the chief anti-emancipation propagandist for the Tory establishment, publishing blistering public letters to political leaders.

Concurrently, Lord Clancarty was using his massive influence in the House of Lords and in Ireland to strongly resist these concessions.

The Dynamic in March 1828: Sent exactly one year before the government unexpectedly buckled and passed the Relief Act of 1829, this private letter captures the two men at the height of their coordinate strategies.

Clancarty was writing from the frontlines in the West of Ireland directly to Philpotts at London's elite Athenaeum Club, where Philpotts was actively advising the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, on the crisis

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